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Hugh Grant backs gay marriage: I do think love’s actually the same for everyone

Hugh Grant today joined the campaign for gay marriage — but admitted he is “not a massive believer in marriage”.

The actor, 52, is the latest big name to record a video for the Out4Marriage campaign, seen exclusively by the Evening Standard.

Grant, the romantic lead in a string of hit movies, including the Bridget Jones films, About a Boy, and Four Weddings and a Funeral which features a gay couple, was filmed standing by an ornate fireplace in a room full of antiques.

He says: “Hello, I’m Hugh Grant. I’m not a massive believer in marriage — I think my own biography is testament to that — but I do think that love is the same for everyone. And I do think that everyone should have the same rights.

“If you want to get married, whether you’re gay, straight, transgender, whatever, you should definitely be allowed to do that.”

David Cameron has vowed to pass a law giving same-sex couples the right to get married. A government consultation attracted a record 230,000 responses, many of them organised by religious groups against the move.

The Government will announce next month or in November how it will press ahead with the reform.

Welcoming Grant’s video, Joseph Musgrave from Out4Marriage said: “There has been a tendency among some media commentators to subject the equal marriage debate to a mere political calculation.

“Although it’s great to have such a well-known celebrity support us, Hugh’s key contribution is to emphasise the human element — this is all about the recognition of love and freeing people to decide how they, and not the state, choose to act on that.”

Out4Marriage has produced a string of YouTube videos from celebrities and senior politicians backing equal marriage, with the aim of countering the protests organised by religious organisations.

Among the names who have recorded personal messages of support are Sir Richard Branson, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Home Secretary Theresa May and the Bishop of Buckingham, the Rt Rev Alan Wilson.